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托福考试中，什么是修辞目的题? 本质上讲：就是对作者意图的提问。但在托福考试中实质是如何的，我们一起看下

形式上讲：

Why does the author mention/discuss …?

The author mentions/discusses … in order to ______.

The author uses … as an example of_____.

做这类题目时有些同学往往会出现黑人问号，我怎么知道作者怎么想的!

其实，这类题目和托福其他题目一样，都是有套路的。至少，托福阅读里的修辞目的题是不会要求考生们对锅里的鱼眼里“诡异的光”进行理解的。

言归正传，那么做这类题目的套路究竟是什么呢?

首先我们要知道托福文章结构有一个规律，就是claim(观点)+detail(s)，换句话说就是给出一个观点，然后用一个或者若干个细节或者例子来支撑前面的观点。

不论是从文章整体架构，段落结构，还是更微观的行文结构来看，一般来说这个规律都成立。而修辞目的题实质上就是出题人把一个detail拎出来问你，作者为什么要提到这个detail。到这里，问题的关键就变成了找到这个detail对应的claim究竟在哪里。

最简单的模型就是，claim后面就一个detail支撑，这种情况下，自然detail前面紧挨着的那句话就是作者的观点，即提到这个detail的目的是为了说明前面的这个观点。

然而有时候，作者会用不止一个detail来支撑最前面的claim，模型视图如下

Claim+ detail 1 + detail 2 + detail 3

这种时候，如果出题人把detail 3拎出来问你它的目的，显然答案就不是为了支持紧挨着它的前面那句话了，而应该是遥相支持前面的前面的前面的那个claim。

根据以上原理，我们总结出了一个做题步骤，帮助大家高效地找到这个claim。

简言之，

1. 找出题目中的关键词

2. 用关键词定位原文

3. 按照原句 -- 前面1~2句 -- 段落第一句的顺序找到claim

4. 根据原文claim找到对应选项

可以看出，步骤1和2是在文章中找到题目里提到的detail的位置，当然，如果文中已经给你highligh出来了的话这两个步骤就省掉了

而步骤3才是在找claim

下面，我们来进行一个实操应用：

In paragraph 1, what is the author's purpose in providing examples of how organisms are destroyed?

○To emphasize how surprising it is that so many fossils exist

○To introduce a new geologic theory of fossil preservation

○To explain why the fossil record until now has remained incomplete

○To compare how fossils form on land and in water

很明显，这道题需要我们自己去找到detail的位置，所以我们要从第1个步骤开始做起：找出题目中的关键词

examples of how organisms are destroyed(生物被摧毁的例子)

第2步，我们要拿着关键词到段落里面去找detail对应的原句，即哪里有提到生物被摧毁的例子

Paragraph 1: When one considers the many ways by which organisms are completely destroyed after death, it is remarkable that fossils are as common as they are. Attack by scavengers and bacteria, chemical decay, and destruction by erosion and other geologic agencies make the odds against preservation very high. However, the chances of escaping complete destruction are vastly improved if the organism happens to have a mineralized skeleton and dies in a place where it can be quickly buried by sediment. Both of these conditions are often found on the ocean floors, where shelled invertebrates (organisms without spines) flourish and are covered by the continuous rain of sedimentary particles. Although most fossils are found in marine sedimentary rocks, they also are found in terrestrial deposits left by streams and lakes. On occasion, animals and plants have been preserved after becoming immersed in tar or quicksand, trapped in ice or lava flows, or engulfed by rapid falls of volcanic ash.

我们看下来后会发现有且仅有红色部分是一些摧毁生物的具体例子，清道夫、细菌、化学侵蚀等等，至此我们完成了第2步，定位出了detail对应的原句。

第3步，到这句话的前面找它对应的claim，这道题里，它前面只有一句话，那让我们来验证一下这是不是这个detail所支撑的观点呢?

When one considers the many ways by which organisms are completely destroyed after death, it is remarkable that fossils are as common as they are.

(当一个人知道生物死后会被如此多的方式所完全分解毁灭，那他就会感叹世界上化石如此普遍有多不可思议)

看起来逻辑上可以成为生物被摧毁的例子所支撑的对象吧

那我们现在来做第4步，根据找出来的claim去选出最接近的选项

In paragraph 1, what is the author's purpose in providing examples of how organisms are destroyed?

○To emphasize how surprising it is that so many fossils exist

○To introduce a new geologic theory of fossil preservation

○To explain why the fossil record until now has remained incomplete

○To compare how fossils form on land and in water

选项1是不是就是我们找出来的claim的同义复述呀?答案就是它了!

All in all，只要把握好题型背后的原理，妈妈再也不用担心你做不好修辞目的题了!

作者简介：

姚媛媛，上海外国语大学硕士，托福114，托业985分

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